ALLEGANY, N.Y. — Administrators at the Allegany-Limestone Central School District announced Wednesday that Superintendent Dr. Karen Geelan is stepping down from the post she has held the past six years.
News of Geelan’s resignation, effective at the end of October, was announced through an email from her office. The correspondence stated a special meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the middle/high school to begin the process of appointing a new superintendent.
When contacted, Geelan said she has accepted the superintendent post at the Valhalla Union Free School District in Eastern New York near the Connecticut border. Geelan spoke by cell phone and said she was just returning to the area with her husband, Tom, following her appointment to her new position by the Valhalla school district’s board of education. She replaces retiring Superintendent Dr. Brenda Myers, who headed up the district which comprises approximately 1,496 students.
Geelan, a native of Lewiston, had served as principal of Kenmore West High School in the Buffalo area prior to accepting the superintendent post at Allegany-Limestone in July 2011. In 2015, Geelan had applied for the superintendent seat at Hamburg Central School District, but later withdrew as a candidate for that seat stating she had decided to stay with Allegany-Limestone.
Geelan didn’t specifically state why she accepted the new position at Valhalla, but did note she is proud of the accomplishments achieved at Allegany-Limestone under her leadership.
“We’ve done an awful lot in my six years at Allegany-Limestone,” Geelan said. “I’m very proud of what happened there under my leadership. I’m confident in their continued success for all the work we have done together. “
In recounting the accomplishments at Allegany-Limestone, she said students at all academic levels have shown improvement, the high school earned “bronze level status” in the U.S. News and World Report publication and the district adopted standardized curricula.
“Fiscally, we’ve lowered taxes each of the past three years and we have a bus replacement cycle funded in the budget,” Geelan continued. “Our reserves are healthy and we have a $17 million capital project we began with no additional costs to our local taxpayers.”
Geelan said she also worked very hard to “re-establish trust in the superintendent seat and the administration” in the district.
“It’s because of all of those accomplishments that I feel confident in leaving the district in a good place,” she remarked. “Now I’m looking forward to taking on new challenges in Valhalla.”
While school board president, Joe Zimmer, couldn’t be reached for comment, board member Kim Palmer weighed in on the upcoming search for a new district leader. She said the board hasn’t made any decisions yet regarding the possibility of appointing an interim superintendent until a new superintendent is hired.
“It’s been six years since we’ve looked for anybody,” Palmer stated. “It will be a matter of seeing what’s out there and seeing what everybody has to offer.”
Palmer said Geelan will be missed as she was “steadfast in her duties and has really worked on pulling things together in the district.
“We’ve gone through a number of changes and everything has been very fruitful,” Palmer added. “I think we have a great district and are in a great position to be attractive for those interested in a superintendent” seat.
